Facebook's 'Life-Saving Tool': Organ Donor Status for Timeline

After yesterday's promises of a "life-saving tool" announcement, Facebook today revealed that users now have the option to add organ donor status to their Facebook Timeline.

Mark Zuckerberg appeared on ABC's Good Morning America to talk about the newly added feature.

"What we hope will happen is that by just having this simple tool, we think that people can really help spread awareness of organ donation and that they want to participate in this to their friends," Zuckerberg told ABC in an exclusive interview. "That can be a big part of helping solve the crisis that's out there."

According to the U.S. Department of Health, more than 7,000 people die each year while waiting for an organ transplant.

Zuckerberg said that he was inspired to add organ donor status to Facebook in part by his girlfriend Priscilla Chan, who is a medical student, and also by witnessing what the social network accomplished in times of crisis, such as during the devastating earthquakes in Japan last year.

You can add your organ donor status by going to your Facebook Timeline and clicking "Life Event." Then click "Health & Wellness," followed by the new "Organ Donor" option. You can include the date and location of when you registered as an organ donor, as well as a story about why you chose to become a donor.

If you haven't registered as an organ donor, Facebook includes a link to the Donate Life America app that will direct you to your state's donor registry to become one.

"More than 114,000 people in the United States, and millions more around the globe, are waiting for the heart, kidney or liver transplant that will save their lives. Many of those people – an average of 18 people per day – will die waiting, because there simply aren’t enough organ donors to meet the need. Medical experts believe that broader awareness about organ donation could go a long way toward solving this crisis."

And with its nearly 1 billion users, the social network giant is certainly in an ideal position to make this happen.

But will Facebook users follow through and add organ donor status to their Timelines? Will Facebook's initiative actually convince users to register as organ donors if they haven't already? Let us know what you think in the comments.